The Chessboard Queen Read Free Page B

him on the road. He has come from Armorica to join Arthur, he says.”
    Guinevere turned her gaze from the horses to the man. Caet was startled at suddenly being noticed and made his best bow to hide a moment before he showed his face. She smiled, but there was no recognition in her glance. He was not sure if he was relieved or sorry.
    “Briacu?” she asked. He nodded. “Those are magnificent animals. If they are an example of your skill at breeding and raising horses, I’m sure my husband will be delighted to welcome you to Caerleon and will certainly find a place for you here. Please join us. He will return in a few days’ time. I’m sure we can find room for you among the soldiers until he decides your position.”
    He mumbled something in reply and hoped it was correct. He stood awkwardly, one hand still holding the reins, not certain what to do next.
    “Auntie, would you like me to show Briacu where he can stable his excellent horses and leave his belongings?” Gawain asked.
    “Yes. I will expect you both at dinner. Oh, and Gawain, stop calling me ‘Auntie’!”
    She turned her back on them and swept away with mock dignity.
    Amidst many confusing impressions, it slowly dawned on Caet that he had been made a fool of by his ragged traveling companion. Even worse, he realized that it was partially his own fault for making assumptions. This on top of everything else made him furious and he stomped after Gawain with a firm idea of rubbing his face in the dirt.
    “Why didn’t you tell me you knew the Queen?” he whispered savagely.
    Gawain grinned and shrugged. “I don’t like to flaunt my rich relations before my friends.”
    Caet refused to be pacified. “Don’t tell me she’s your aunt. You are almost as old as she is.”
    “She is my aunt, my irritated friend, because she married my uncle, who is somewhat younger than his sister, my mother. Is that clear enough or must I give you the whole family tree? Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you like that. I apologize. All right? You may as well know that I have no intention of fighting you. It’s too late in the day for me to win and in the morning I might kill you without meaning to. So why don’t we just forget the whole thing and be friends?”
    He held out his hand. Grudgingly Caet extended his. He reminded himself that Gawain could not have known how deeply he had been hurt. After all Gawain was not the only one who had been secretive about his past.
    Guinevere did not take her dinner in the hall with the rest of the residents, but Gawain took Caet to her rooms. She greeted them eagerly.
    “I don’t like to eat in the hall when Arthur isn’t here,” she explained. “It’s noisy and rough there and I think that the soldiers and their ladies are uncomfortable with me watching them. It’s really much nicer to eat in my room, but lonely.”
    Gawain sat next to her and squeezed her hand.
    “Arthur will be back soon. He can’t continue his building much longer unless Master Merlin has found a way to hold back the winter. Geraldus will be with us in a month or two. He had to go visit Mark and Alswytha first. There was a summons from Alswytha, not to Geraldus, he said, but to his ‘green lady.’ She wanted to borrow her for a while. Does that mean anything to you?”
    Guinevere laughed. “Yes, I know the green lady well. I hadn’t thought of her as a midwife, but she is probably very comforting. So, Alswytha is having another baby.”
    Gawain remembered too late that Guinevere would not care to hear about other people’s babies. He hastily switched the conversation to stories of his recent travels. Guinevere seemed to enjoy them and asked questions which spun the tales even longer. Things seemed to happen to Gawain, especially when he became involved with women. No one ever seemed to take him seriously enough to get hurt, but his lifelong problem of falling sound asleep from sunset to dawn and then becoming progressively stronger